Illinois lawmakers gathered in Springfield Sunday for the final day of the spring legislative session, and there are several massive bills still on the table.
According to the state Constitution, lawmakers have until the end of the day Sunday to pass laws with a simple majority, and one of those bills will have to be the state’s new budget for fiscal year 2027.
Earlier this year, Gov. JB Pritzker unveiled his proposed budget, allowing nearly $55 billion across the state. The state is aiming to once again have a balanced budget, though the budget featured limited additional spending as the state contends with reduced funding from the federal government.
The proposed budget included a new tax on social media companies, along with reconfigured taxes on table and electronic games at casinos and several other new levies in the coming year.
Negotiations on the budget continue, but that’s far from the only issue on the table for lawmakers.
Chief among those will be whether or not the legislature can pass a bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in the state of Illinois. On Saturday, State Sen. Bill Cunningham told reporters in Springfield that a so-called “megaprojects bill” aimed at giving the Bears property tax certainty on their proposed stadium site in Arlington Heights likely didn’t have the votes to pass the Senate, putting the feature of the legislation in significant peril.
There is still a very real possibility the state could pass another proposal aimed to provide incentives for the Bears to build a stadium in Arlington Heights, with such a bill potentially containing funds to assist with infrastructure projects around the development. That bill would have to pass by the end of the day Sunday, or else a special session would likely have to be called to negotiate a bill, and that would require a three-fifths majority of lawmakers to pass it.
It would also delay the implementation of a bill, with the Bears already having an offer on the table from Indiana to build a stadium in nearby Hammond.
Aside from the Bears and budget, there are numerous other bills that could still pass in the legislature before it’s adjourned. Among those are new restrictions on artificial intelligence companies, along with possible reining in of tax incentives for the construction of data centers in the state.
The BUILD Act is also still in play, with the legislation aimed at smoothing out the process to construct affordable housing in the state. Some leaders fear it could take away local control over building projects, but advocates for the legislation point to a reported shortage of more than 140,000 housing units in the state, with demand continuing to grow.
It also remains unclear whether “swipe fees” will be allowed to go into effect at state retailers, with ads targeting the legislation that had passed in 2024 and that is set to go into effect on July 1.
The legislation prohibits banks, credit unions and credit card companies from collecting “swipe fees” on tips and the sales tax portions of transactions, and those companies have warned that consumers may be required to use cash for those purchases, or to swipe their card twice in order for the taxes to be appropriately collected.
Those in favor of the bill say the solutions are technological and that companies would be able to make the necessary changes by the time the bill goes into effect, but lawmakers have considered pausing the legislation to help smooth that transition.
The spring session of the General Assembly wraps up on Sunday night, and NBC Chicago will have coverage throughout the day of all the latest happenings in Springfield.
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